Everyday actions and dialogue for peace.

Inspiration

Happy International Day of Nonviolence, commemorating Gandhi’s 145th birthday (aka “‘Spinning Wheel’ (charkha) Birthday”)! The UN designates this day as an occasion to “disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness”.

On this occasion I wanted to share five of my favorite quotes from Gandhi that keeps encouraging me, to strive for my dreams and live true to my values: Continue reading →

Today, the Metta Center for Nonviolence released its latest issue of monthly e-magazine, Emergence. The issue focused on Roadmap, a way of making the movement of movements visual. Roadmap is also a set of tools we can use as activists. It is Metta Center’s attempt to offer three things to help create an unstoppable movement: unity, strategy, and nonviolent power. The Vol 6 of Emergence will be a great “one-stop shop” for those seeking to learn more about Roadmap or simply trying become familiar with nonviolence and Metta’s work.

For this exciting issue, I helped compile all the pieces as a guest editor, and also contributed an article on “New Story,” one of the six wedges of Roadmap and one on which Metta Center places a great emphasis. It was also very timely that the latest issue of Yes! Magazine featured “The Power of Story.” The issue contains some powerful quotes on the need for new narratives that would remind us of our human dignity and interconnectedness with others.

Below is my article, “Story of New Story,” as published in Emergence. I hope you enjoy it and also read the rest of the issue!

If, instead of referring to the movement as the civil rights movement, we spoke in terms of the expansion of democracy, then each new generation would recognize that they have a responsibility to expand democracy beyond the way they found it. This duty is an ongoing task that each new generation must accept. The question is how to engage the next generation and convey this important message to them. This is a major issue to which, as you can tell, I have passionately devoted myself.
— Vincent Harding

Dr. Vincent Harding, a friend of and advisor to Martin Luther King Jr. and an incredible human being, passed away yesterday, May 19th. I was so fortunate to have had the chance to meet him twice in Denver. To celebrate his life and dedication to humanity, I wanted to share this quote from his from the book “America Will Be! Conversation on Hope, Freedom, and Democracy,” as a way to assure him that I’ll carry on his message.

Pugwash seeks a world free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. Through our long-standing tradition of ‘dialogue across divides’ that also earned us the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995, Pugwash aims to develop and support the use of scientific, evidence-based policymaking, focusing on areas where nuclear and WMD risks are present. By facilitating track 1.5 and track II dialogues, we foster creative discussions on ways to increase the security of all sides and promote policy development that is cooperative and forward-looking.